ILKESTON Town's plight at the foot of the Dr Martens Premier League has not come as a total surprise to former Robin David Holmes.

The Derbyshire side visit St George's Lane tomorrow (3pm) with a new management team of Charlie Bishop and John Knapper at the helm in place of the sacked John McGinley.

Holmes, who joined Worcester City in September, is a shrewd observer of the game and believes McGinley paid the price for trying to change things too quickly.

The ex-Bolton Wanderers star brought in 10 or 11 new faces over the summer but a series of poor results saw the Scot out of the New Manor Ground hot-seat.

"He was unlucky with injuries but in my opinion he brought in players that were no better than the ones he got rid of," said Holmes.

"Like any new manager he tried to make his mark but I think he brought in too many players too soon."

Bishop and Knapper are former Ilkeston favourites and their new reign will make City's task that much harder, according to Holmes.

"They had a good result the other night against Banbury so they are going to be more confident," he said.

"I've spoken to a few of the lads and they seem happier that John and Charlie are back and it has given them a lift."

Holmes has established himself as Barton's most potent attacking weapon but is still waiting to open his account for City.

However, he is certainly feeling the benefit of extra training sessions after recovering from an ankle injury.

"I don't want to put myself under added pressure but John Barton knows I can score goals and I think I'm improving in every game," he said.

"At Ilkeston I was probably the fittest player during pre-season but at City I've had a totally different level of fitness due to my ankle.

"However before the Halesowen game I trained twice in the week and felt a lot fitter, got up and down and was getting from box to box."

A mixtures of adrenaline and the buzz of moving to a new club helped Holmes get through his first few games but he is now ready to be judged by supporters and early indications are that he will be a hit.

Barton may field Holmes on the right wing for tomorrow's clash with new £7,500 signing Adam Wilde on the left, but either way goals will be a must for the leaders, having failed to score in four of their last five games.

"Our decision making needs to be better because we are having good opportunities but not creating chances from them," said Holmes.

"But we've got plenty of options up front and it's not how many we score just as long as win - 1-0 is good enough and plenty of championship winning sides have had a few of those along the way."

FORMCAST: City to discover their goal touch and win 3-0.